Daily Kickoff
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2026
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we look at the race to succeed AntΓ³nio Guterres as secretary-general of the United Nations, report on ties between a senior Mamdani administration official and an influence network tied to China-allied tech mogul Neville “Roy” Singham, and cover Sunkist’s decision to bring back its discontinued Fruit Gems that for decades have been a staple at Jewish celebrations. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Gov. Gavin Newsom, Noa Argamani and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod.
Today's Agenda
The U.S. and Iran are expected to engage in talks this week, President Donald Trump said on Sunday after rejecting a proposal from Tehran for a seven-day plan to end the war. “They want to make a deal, but it is not the deal that I want to make. It is what we would have maybe agreed to a year ago. They overplayed their hand,” Trump told Axios.
Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who traveled to the U.S. for the U.N. General Assembly and is expected to stay in the country through the middle of the week, said Tehran is both “ready for diplomacy” and prepared to “stand firm in the face of any aggression.”
The comments from both Trump and Araghchi come as Tehran faces increasing pressure from mediators to make nuclear concessions to restart talks.
Trump is slated to give an address today at 2 p.m., the subject of which is not yet public.
In Washington, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) are expected to force a vote this week on legislation that would require the State Department to present a report to Congress on West Bank violence by settlers and Israeli forces, including any deaths or detentions of Americans. Read more about the effort here.
One Thing to Know
Two security stories that surfaced in the U.K. over the weekend are presenting Prime Minister Andy Burnham with some of his new government’s first major tests since taking power over the summer: how to address domestic counterterror threats and mounting issues related to asylum seekers, while also responding to concerns by British Jews over their safety and security amid growing tensions between London and Jerusalem.
On Sunday, U.K. officials arrested several individuals near a military base in Gloucestershire used by the U.S. for operations against Iran. A police statement released about the incident said that an ordnance disposal team had been dispatched to the area and that properties in the vicinity had been evacuated.
The incident occurred hours after a report in the U.K.’s Times that a former bodyguard for Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader who was killed by Israel in 2024, was granted asylum — and later citizenship — in the U.K., from which he plotted attacks across Europe. The man, identified as “Mr. X” due to a British court order protecting his anonymity, was arrested last year in connection with a plot to attack Jewish targets in Germany and Austria on the second anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.
The Big Reads
taLK OF TURTLE BAY
U.N. secretary-general race puts candidates’ Israel records in focus
The race to succeed U.N. Secretary-General AntΓ³nio Guterres is still wide open, with seven candidates vying to lead an organization whose approach toward Israel has become a central concern for the United States and pro-Israel advocates, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports. Costa Rican economist Rebeca Grynspan and Guyana’s U.N. ambassador, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, have emerged as the leading contenders. Ben Cohen, a senior analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, described Grynspan, the daughter of Holocaust survivors with family members residing in Israel, as a U.N. insider candidate who would likely “be in the mold of Guterres.” Rodrigues-Birkett, meanwhile, has previously described the Jewish state’s actions against Palestinians as “brutality that would make some of history’s most cruel oppressors blush,” and praised former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro as a “visionary” in a 2013 speech.
city hall hire
Top Mamdani international affairs staffer linked to global left-wing influence network
A few months before New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with Brazilian President Luiz InΓ‘cio Lula da Silva during the U.N. General Assembly last week, his administration hired an expatriate supporter of the left-wing South American leader — an academic and activist involved in a group tied to the sprawling global influence network of China-allied tech mogul Neville “Roy” Singham, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports. Hired in June as a deputy commissioner for international affairs, Gianpaolo Baiocchi in July brought the organization Defend Democracy in Brazil into his city office for a formal meeting to “strengthen ties of the Brazilian community in New York.”
the sunkist also rises
Sunkist says it will bring back beloved Fruit Gems after national outcry
Sunkist Fruit Gems announced that it plans to bring back its beloved kosher candy, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports, days after eJP first reported on the discontinuation of the synagogue staple. The discontinuation of the Fruit Gems had prompted a good-hearted national backlash, particularly on social media, where people jokingly called the move “antisemitic” or wrote “baruch dayan emet,” the traditional phrase that is used when hearing that a person has died.
The Rundown
The rest of today’s original stories from Jewish Insider — full stories, all published on the site.
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
The U.S. Navy awarded two military contracts for missile canisters and survival radios, collectively worth $127 million, to subsidiaries of Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit Systems…
The Department of Education again delayed the release of data on foreign funding to U.S. colleges and universities, the sixth such delay since July; the data is now expected to be released on Oct. 2…
Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) filed an amicus brief in a Holocaust restitution lawsuit, Reif v. Republic of Austria, citing their legislation that aims to aid the heirs of Holocaust survivors in recovering Nazi-looted art…
Reps. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Mike Quigley, (D-IL), along with 41 House members, wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to work to ensure the release of Palestinian physicians and healthcare workers held in Israeli detention…
The New York Times looks at VoteVets’ involvement in the midterms as the group spends more than $60 million on more than 300 candidates, the vast majority of whom are running in down-ballot races, and leans into voter antipathy toward the Iran war…
A new poll from the Democratic polling firm GBAO found Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed up four points, 48-44%, over former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI)...
Singer Ed Sheeran’s weekend concerts at Massachusetts' Gillette Stadium were canceled due to weather, weeks after a firestorm over the anti-Israel activism and antisemitic rhetoric of Macklemore; the rapper was removed from the tour by organizers after stadium owners, including Gillette owner Robert Kraft, raised concerns about Macklemore’s recent performances and past activities…
In an event at Los Angeles’ Wilshire Boulevard Temple, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law the Safe Worship Zone Act and the expansion of the California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program…
An Illinois man who previously served jail time for antisemitic vandalism was sentenced to seven years in prison for graffitiing a swastika and other antisemitic imagery across the Northwestern University campus earlier this year…
A Canadian man in Kitchener, Ontario, was arrested in connection with a livestream in which he allegedly made threats targeting the Jewish community…
The council of the eastern German town of Heidenau, in a move led by the far-right Alternative for Germany party and ruling Christian Democratic Union, banned future plaques commemorating residents of the city who were killed during the Holocaust…
Maastricht University in the Netherlands suspended a Palestinian student who claimed he took part in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks…
Israel gave Dutch diplomats in Ramallah seven days to return their Israeli-issued credentials, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on X on Sunday, after a Dutch ban on goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights went into effect…
The IDF said it killed one of the terrorists involved in the abduction of former Israeli hostage Noa Argamani from the Nova music festival during the Oct. 7 attacks…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly traveled to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday to meet with Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan…
The Wall Street Journal reports that Egypt’s former intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, personally called Netanyahu with a third warning of an impending attack from Gaza in the days before Oct. 7, 2023, after two earlier Egyptian alerts went unheeded, according to Arab officials…
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Pressure Points: In The Wall Street Journal, former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus argues that the U.S.’ continued economic pressure on Iran coupled with its support for Gulf states will strengthen Washington’s negotiating position. “Iran’s leverage comes from imposing costs on everyone else by disrupting Hormuz, threatening bypass routes and widening pressure through aligned groups such as the Houthis in Yemen. Washington’s leverage runs in the opposite direction: helping everyone else’s oil get out while making it harder for Iran’s oil and maritime commerce to do the same.” [WSJ]
The Blair Pitch Project: The Free Press’ Audrey Fahlberg profiles former White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair as he works to mitigate Democratic gains in the midterms. “I asked [Blair] about the notion that the president has betrayed his own base by dragging the country into war with Iran after campaigning as a peacemaker — a claim repeated often by popular podcasters like Tucker Carlson and others on the right who prefer a restrained foreign policy. ‘The Tucker Carlsons of the world aren’t being honest about what the president has always said,’ he said. ‘The president has said endless times’ going back to the 1980s ‘that Iran should never have a nuclear weapon.’ By denying this, Blair said, the restrainer wing of the GOP is ‘projecting something that he never said onto him in the Iran case.’” [FreePress]
Groyper Groupie: The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell spotlights former “groypette” Amy Dangerfield in the wake of her falling out with neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes. “Amy had developed tough skin over years of derogatory jokes being made at her expense; for conservative women, she said, it just came with the lifestyle. … But this felt different. The kinds of conspiracy theories she’d once amplified about elites were now being rewritten about her: that she was a spy for Israeli surveillance, or a federal infiltrator, or a rebel attempting revolt.” [WashPost]
Picture of the Day
Israeli soccer fans cheered on the Israeli national team on Sunday during the team’s UEFA Nations League match against Ireland in Debrecen, Hungary.
Members of the Irish team wore black armbands and skipped the customary pre-match handshakes before beating Israel 3-0. In addition, the Irish players bowed their heads during Israel’s anthem, and captain Dara O’Shea kept his hands clasped behind his back rather than greet Israel’s Manor Solomon. Sebastian Frej/Getty Images
Birthdays
Daniel Braverman, former NFL, XFL and CFL wide receiver and kick returner, turns 33
ROBIN ALAM/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES
Sir Jeremy Israel Isaacs, Emmy Award-winning Scottish television producer, turns 94
Madeleine Kunin, former governor of Vermont (the first Jewish woman elected to govern any state), she was also the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, turns 93
Stuart Kauffman, physician and theoretical biologist, he was a 1987 MacArthur genius fellow, turns 87
Warren Lieberfarb, former president of Warner Home Video, turns 83
Alain Wertheimer, French businessman who, with his brother, own the controlling interest in the House of Chanel and several famous vineyards, turns 78
Jerry Weiss, real estate agent in New York's Hudson Valley
Gary Miller, Teaneck, N.J.-based real estate attorney
Bill Cassidy, physician and outgoing U.S. senator (R-LA), turns 69
Michael Harris, pediatrician and author of the book Winning A Debate with An Israel Hater about the fight against BDS
Ben Greenman, best-selling author of more than 25 books, he is also a magazine journalist, turns 57
Elliott Nahmias, area director for San Diego and Orange counties for AIPAC
Lenny Krayzelburg, winner of four Olympic gold medals in swimming for the USA (2000 and 2004), turns 51
Michael Lipin, news editor and White House correspondent at Voice of America
Nina Pekerman, Israeli Ironman triathlete, turns 49
Lauren France, SVP at the Katz Watson Group
Samantha Collidge, director of leadership engagement for the Anti-Defamation League
Hadassa Levenson, regional director for the Orthodox Union's Teach Coalition
Ayelet Cohen, VP of operations at Tel Aviv-based iAngels, a women-led venture capital firm
David Hopen, 2023 graduate of Yale Law School and author of a coming-of-age novel set in the Modern Orthodox community, turns 33
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